HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1726

BYRepresentatives Hine, Ferguson, Nelson, Brough, H. Sommers, Valle, Holland, Rust, Appelwick, Locke, Heavey, Miller, May, Lux, Brekke, Todd, O'Brien, Patrick, Wineberry, Crane, Cantwell, Anderson, Jacobsen, J. Williams, Leonard, Armstrong, P. King, Barnes, Betrozoff, Cole, Haugen, Fisher, Nutley and Unsoeld

Revising membership on metropolitan councils.

House Committe on Local Government

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (12)

      Signed by Representatives Haugen, Chair; Cooper, Vice Chair; Beck, Bumgarner, Butterfield, Hine, Jones, Nealey, Nelson, Nutley, Rayburn and Zellinsky.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (1)

      Signed by Representative Ferguson.

House Staff:Steve Lundin (786-7127)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT FEBRUARY 1, 1988

BACKGROUND:

Metropolitan municipal corporations (metros) are units of local government that can be created to provide one or more of the following facilities and services: (1) water pollution abatement; (2) water supply; (3) public transportation; (4) garbage disposal; (5) parks and parkways; (6) comprehensive planning.  Each class of function must be authorized by the voters of the metro approving a ballot proposition authorizing the function.

Two metros have been created, the Metropolitan Municipal Corporation of Seattle and SnoMet in Snohomish County.  SnoMet is inactive.  The Metropolitan Municipal Corporation of Seattle has been authorized to engage in water pollution abatement and public transportation activities.

A metro is a federated-type of government governed by a metropolitan council.  Membership on the council is determined by a statutory scheme that includes ex-officio members a well as members who are appointed to the council.  No members of a metro council are elected directly to the council by the voters of a metro.

The metro council of the Metropolitan Municipal Corporation of Seattle consists of 38 members for its public transportation function and 40 members for its water pollution abatement function.

Compensation for members of a metro council is as follows:

(1)  Full time, elected officials receive no salary and no per diem compensation, but are reimbursed for expenses;

(2)  The chair receives a salary established by the council the amount of which is not limited by statute, and is also reimbursed for expenses;

(3)  Committee chairs receive a salary established by the council that cannot exceed one-third of the salary of the county council salary, and are also reimbursed for expenses; and

(4)  Other members do not receive a salary, but receive a per diem rate of compensation, in addition to any compensation that might be received from being a part-time official for another local government, of not to exceed $50 per day for metro work, with an annual ceiling of $4800 per year, and are also reimbursed for expenses.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL:  The composition of a metro council is altered from a statutory scheme that could result in differing total and individual membership for different metros, all or whom are ex-officio or appointed members, to a twenty-one member body, nine of whom are elected directly to the council and twelve of whom serve on an ex-officio basis by virtue of being county, city or town elected officials.

The directly elected members are elected from county council districts if the boundaries of a metro are coterminous with the boundaries of a county that has nine county legislative authority districts, as is the case with King County.  Otherwise, the metro council divides the metro into nine districts with approximately the same population for such election purposes.

The twelve ex-officio members are distributed as follows:

(1)  Five are elected county officials, one of whom is the county executive if one exists, with the remainder chosen by the county legislative authority of the central county.

(2)  Four are elected officials of the central city, one of whom is the mayor, with the remainder chosen by the city council.

(3)  Three are elected officials of other component cities, one of whom is the mayor of the largest of these other component cities, and the remainder chosen by the mayors of all the component cities other than the central city.

The distribution of these ex-officio positions shall be reviewed every five years and altered among these three groups of represented local governments in proportion to their respective populations.  It is assumed that the county has the population of the unincorporated area for such purposes.

Compensation for metro council members consists of both a salary and per diem compensation.  The salary for each council member varies with the extent of the metro's expenditures in the previous year as follows:  (1) $500 per month, if expenditures in the previous year were in excess of $15 million; (2) $350 per month, if expenditures in the previous year were from $2 million to $15 million; and (3) none in other metros, unless the council establishes a salary that cannot exceed $200 per month.  The council can reduce the salary level.  Each metro council member also receives per diem compensation of $50 for attending metro meetings or for performing other work for the metro, not to exceed $7,000 in any year.  Metro council members who are full- time elected officials for another local government do not receive salary or per diem compensation, but the other local government for which such a council member is an elected official receives the salary and per diem.  All metro council members are reimbursed for expenses.

The chair of the metro council is chosen by the council from among its directly elected members.

An existing metro retains its council as presently constituted, until directly elected members are elected in the November, 1988, general election.

A metro with two or more functions studies the make-up of metro councils and reports to the Legislature on or before December 1, 1988.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL:  (1) The compensation and per diem compensation was added.  (2) The county council positions are those from the districts with the most unincorporated area population.  (3) The potential re-adjustment of the split between county elected officials, central city elected officials, and suburban city officials is adjusted when the state redistricting data is released to the state, five years after the release of this data, and whenever an adjustment of the proportionate population between the three areas changes by more than ten percent.  (4) The study was added.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Lois North, member, King County Council; Charles Royer, Mayor of Seattle;  Debra Ertel and Rick Sturgeon, Federal Way Community Council; Phyllis Lamphere, King County 2,000; Sunny Speidel, citizen; Richard Morrill, Department of Geography, Univ. of Washington; Jeannette Williams, member, Seattle City Council; and Steven Benn, Transit Alliance.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Bruce Laing, King County Council/Metro Council; Nan Campbell, Mayor of Bellevue; and Doreen Marchione, Mayor of Redmond.

House Committee - Testimony For:    This provides better representation.  Some directly elected people are authorized to be on the council, but some federated people remain.  The size of the council is reduced.  Many people are asking for change.  This conforms with the King County 2,000 study.  Metro was asked to study this issue last year and report back, but nothing was done.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      What is the rush?  If it is not broken don't fix it.  Sewer districts should be represented.  Let Metro study the issue and come back next year.  Hold more hearings in the area.